Q&A: Jason Schwartzman on Charles Swan, Charlie Sheen, and His Beard

In the new film by family member Roman Coppola A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III (opening in theaters Friday and available on video on-demand), Jason Schwartzman plays Kirby Star, an eccentric musician who's tasked with keeping Charles Swan III (Charlie Sheen) from losing it after a breakup. It's a rather new way to look at Schwartzman, who we all got to know as the neurotic Max Fischer in Rushmore and then once again as the neurotic Jonathan Ames in Bored to Death. This time, he's the voice of reason. We talked to Schwartzman in Los Angeles earlier this week and confirmed that he's a pretty reasonable guy — in explaining his friendship with Charlie Sheen, his representation of bearded people everywhere, and why Rushmore holds up all these years later.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

ESQUIRE.COM: Did you and Charlie Sheen hit it off on the set of A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III?

JASON SCHWARTZMAN: We definitely hit it off. I met him well before we shot the movie, when Roman had a table reading of the film for all the actors. I definitely felt an instant ... connection's not the word, but there was a certain familiarity. The way he talked, the things he was talking about, his sense of humor. During takes, we laughed at each other a lot, and he's an extremely bright human being and can talk about a lot of things. Honestly, I think a lot of it comes down to how easy it is to laugh at somebody.

Most Popular

ESQ: You help Sheen's character through a breakup. Isn't it strange to see an older guy act so adolescent about something like that?

JS: It's a very specific point of view, one guy who's very flamboyant — a graphic designer — but he's also in his own head. He's the type of person who's going to wonder what could have been. With a breakup, you can think in a very erratic, manic way. It's funny, I have a friend of mine — I won't say his name. He went through a divorce in his fifties and was acting very similar. And he's not a very immature person or at all like this Swan character. But by and large, I would agree, this type of behavior is adolescent. Sometimes I'm sure people, as they get older, could still have those adolescent freak-outs.

ESQ: You have a fantastic afro and beard in the movie. Is this one of your more radical transformations?

JS:[Pauses.] One of them. The most radical was for Marie Antoinette. I had to gain sixty pounds of fat. It was hard on my body. I loved having that big beard, the shadow that it cast. And I thought the wig was incredible. It was so real.

ESQ: Did the beard give you any sense of power in your everyday life?

JS: You do have to keep in mind, even though you have the beard for a couple weeks, you're with the beard for a while as it grows. In a sense, you are ordering it, and it takes a while to arrive. And when it arrives, you enjoy it. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and if you're asking about a sexual thing...

ESQ: I wasn't, but sure.

JS: I will say that men in a totally platonic, non-sexual way, give me a look of longing that's like That's impressive. I think it's a combination of that they can't grow a full beard, or maybe they're not allowed to, and they love that I'm in a situation where I can. Some women, and probably some men, were probably like, "Oh, he looks dangerous," and that's nice. And I'm sure a lot of other people were like, "I don't like this beard." So I don't know what the direct answer is. I can't advise you on the power of the beard. I grew a beard for the movie, but I should by no means represent the bearded nation of the world. There are so many men that live with it day-to-day, year-to-year. I have facial hair. I have a mustache at the moment. I'm not a clean-shaven man. I don't like to be clean-shaven every day.

ESQ: Another movie you were in recently, Moonrise Kingdom, is up for Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars. Will it win?

JS: I hope it wins. I don't see why it shouldn't win. I think all the scripts were great, but obviously I'm biased. That's the team I play for. So if you're asking me who's going to win the Super Bowl, that's my team. I'm going to root for Wes and Roman. I read the script, I spent time with it, I really studied it and had to learn lines. It really is a beautifully written script. You can read it like a book or something. As all of Wes's scripts are. So much care goes into the writing and crafting.

ESQ: You're going to be in Anderson's next project, The Grand Budapest Hotel. How's that going?

JS: I finished my work on that. All in all, from the front of my door until I was back, was a lot of hours. I can't give away too much of my role in the movie, just because, you know, the novelty.

ESQ: Speaking of writing, it was recently announced that you're working with Bored to Death creator Jonathan Ames on a film. What's the plan on that? Ideas of actors?

JS: I feel like I've been supremely lucky that I've hit it off with these people to the point where they become your friends and your collaborators on future things. Certainly with Wes — he's my mentor, one of my best friends in the whole world, and someone I can call and ask about ideas in true mentor fashion. And I would say that Jonathan Ames is another example of that. Someone that I'd never met before and the second I met him, I felt like, This is someone who's going to have a profound effect on my life. He's currently writing the Bored to Death movie. And we're writing another movie sorta based on a book.

ESQ: Do you miss playing Jonathan Ames?

JS: I miss it every day. It was so fun. I'm not bitter about it. And I must say, HBO was really wonderful to us. But I'd be lying if I said it wasn't sad. I love all those people. I love Zach Galifianakis. I love Ted Danson. These are friends I've made who I really care about.

ESQ: This year marks the fifteenth anniversary of Rushmore. Do you think it holds up well?

JS: I haven't seen it in a while. But I hope it holds up. If you're asking me my opinion, I don't know. I don't figure myself an older person, but this is the first time in my life — I'll walk around and someone will come up to me who's young, and they'll say they like Rushmore. And I can tell they are the age that I was when I made it. They were two or something [when it came out]. It's a crazy feeling and a wonderful feeling.